The Influence of Sexualized Exercise Advertisements on Affect ...

A Thesis

entitled

Sexercise: The Influence of Sexualized Exercise Advertisements on Affect Towards

Exercise and Exercise Intentions

by

Ashley B. Murray

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in Psychology

_________________________________________

Andrew Geers, Ph.D., Committee Chair

_________________________________________

Jason Rose, Ph.D., Committee Member

_________________________________________

John Jasper, Ph.D., Committee Member

_________________________________________

Amanda Bryant-Friedrich, Dr. rer. Nat., Dean

College of Graduate Studies

The University of Toledo

May 2017

Copyright 2017, Ashley B. Murray

This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document

may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author.

iii

An Abstract of

Sexercise: The Influence of Sexualized Exercise Advertisements on Affect Towards

Exercise and Exercise Intentions

by

Ashley B. Murray

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in

Psychology

The University of Toledo

May 2017

In the past decade or so, we have seen an upsurge in advertisements aimed to increase

exercise behaviors with limited success. Although success has been achieved in

increasing awareness that exercise is beneficial to health (e.g. Bassuk & Manson, 2005),

less than half of Americans engage in the American Heart Association’s recommended

amount of weekly exercise (CDC, 2014). This has led to the increase in the use of

different types of techniques to boost the effectiveness of exercise-related advertisements.

One type of technique commonly used is sexualization. Whereas some research suggests

that sexualization could be used as an effective technique in media advertisements to

increase exercise intentions, other research suggests both that sexualization would not be

an effective technique to increase exercise intentions and that sexualization of women has

a variety of negative effects on women, including inducing negative affect. Recent

research exploring what types of health messages are most influential at changing

exercise behaviors and intentions outline the use of positive affect to change how people

iv

feel about engaging in exercise. This also suggests that the negative affect experienced

after viewing sexualized advertisements may decrease exercise intentions. A pilot study

was conducted to examine existing exercise-related advertisements for use in the present

study. The pilot study found that after college students viewed sexualized advertisements,

they felt less positive about engaging in exercise and believed that exercise was less

beneficial than after viewing three different types of comparison advertisements. The

Main Study extended the Pilot Study by filling in methodological gaps to explore the

mediating effect of affect, and the moderating effect of several key variables on women’s

intentions to engage in exercise after viewing exercise-related advertisements. Two

hundred fifty-two female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view and

rate exercise advertisements of one of four types: neutral, positive, inspirational, or

sexualized. We hypothesized that sexualized exercise advertisements will negatively

influence participants’ intentions to exercise by inducing negative feelings, particularly

negative feelings about ones’ body. Additionally, we hypothesized that Enjoyment of

Sexualization would statistically moderate the relationship between advertisement type

and affect and exercise intentions. Results indicated that the individual difference in

enjoyment of sexualization produced an interaction between advertisement type and

intentions to engage in exercise in the future. Specifically, regression analyses found that

when those who scored higher in enjoyment of sexualization viewed sexualized ads, they

had significantly higher intentions to engage in exercise after viewing the neutral

advertisements, and significantly lower intentions after viewing any of the other types of

advertisements. Contrary to Pilot Study findings, there was no main effect of

advertisement condition on the main dependent variables, and no other hypotheses were

v

supported. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, in addition to notable

limitations and future directions.

vi

Acknowledgments

A huge thanks to my awesome research assistants (in alphabetical order, because

you’re all my favorite): Luiza, Maria, Kristine, Jessica.

To my advisor, Andy, for pushing my writing in more ways than I could have

imagined, and for everything else that an advisor has to do when their student embarks on

a thesis project – thank you so much.

Thank you to the rest of my committee, Jason and Dr. Jasper.

To Mindy, for laying the groundwork for me seeing the media differently, and for

help brainstorming throughout this project, I will never be able to thank you enough.

Thanks to Gwen, for so much editing and proofreading help.

Erin, thank you for answering every question I’ve had throughout this process – I

probably wouldn’t have gotten my paperwork turned into the correct room without your

help.

To Ma – thank you for always being my support, and for showing me that women

can do anything.

To my dad, for the endless calls and chats that have kept me going through this

journey, thanks so much.

Thank you to the rest of my family, bonus family, friends, grad student friends,

and Elliott for your continued love and support throughout this entire process.

vii

Table of Contents

Abstract iii

Acknowledgements vi

Table of Contents vii

List of Tables x

List of Figures xii

I. Chapter 1: Introduction 1

A. Media and Health Behaviors 2

B. Sexualization and Media 5

C. Sexualization and Effects on Women 7

D. Summary 10

E. Affect and Health Behavior 11

F. Manipulating Positive Affect 13

G. General Summary 14

II. Chapter 2: Pilot Study 16

A. Pilot Study Goals 16

B. Pilot Study Methods 17

C. Pilot Study Results 19

D. Pilot Study Discussion 21

III. Chapter 3: Main Study 23

A. Hypotheses 24

B. Participants and Design 25

C. Materials and Measures 27

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a. Images 27

b. Advertisement Questions 27

c. Affective and Intention Questions 27

d. State Body Image 28

e. Enjoyment of Sexualization 28

f. Demographics 29

g. Attention Check Items 29

D. Procedure 29

E. Results

a. Hypothesis 1

b. Hypothesis 2

c. Hypothesis 3

d. Hypothesis 4

F. Discussion

a. Hypothesis 1

b. Hypothesis 2

c. Hypothesis 3

d. Hypothesis 4

e. Discussion of Null Results

f. Limitations

31

33

33

34

34

39

39

40

40

40

43

44

References 48

Appendices 59

A. Nike Advertisements 59

ix

B. Cover Story 65

C. Advertisement Questions 66

D. Affective/Cognitive Questions 69

E. Body Image States Scale 74

F. Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale 76

G. Demographics 78

H. Attention Check Items 80

I. Potential Moderator Scales 81

J. Informed Consent 84

K. Debrief 86

L. Script 88

M. Supplemental Pilot Study Analyses 89

x

List of Tables

Table 2.1

Means of advertisement groups and LSD Post Hoc Analyses of

sexualized group compared to each other advertisement group

from the pilot study……………………………………………

21

Table 3.1 Summary of advertisement questions means and standard

deviations by condition. ………………………………………

32

Table 3.2 Summary of key variable means and standard deviations by

condition for the Main Study……………………………………

33

Table 3.3 Summary of Hierarchical Regression for Condition and

Enjoyment of Sexualization Predicting Exercise Intentions…….

35


Enjoyment of Sexualization Predicting Positive Affect Towards

Exercise………………………………………………………….

36


Enjoyment of Sexualization Predicting Negative Affect

Towards Exercise………………………………………………..

36

Table 2.2 MANOVA results from the comparison of the sexualized

advertisements to the affective advertisements for each question

from the pilot study……………………………………………...

89


advertisements to the neutral advertisements for each question

from the pilot study……………………………………………...

90

xi


advertisements to the inspirational advertisements for each

question from the pilot study…………………………………..

91

xii

List of Figures

Figure 3.1

Hierarchical regression for condition and Enjoyment of

Sexualization predicting exercise intention. ……………………

38

1

Chapter One

Introduction

Exercise has been shown to reduce the likelihood of a variety of health maladies

such as heart disease, Type II diabetes, and dementia (e.g. Bassuk & Manson, 2005;

Larson et al., 2006). There is also substantial evidence that regular physical activity

reduces the risk of several forms of cancer, including colon, endometrial, and breast

cancers (Lee & Oguma, 2006; Slattery, 2004). In addition, there is growing evidence that

engaging in physical activity can also reduce the risk of lung and prostate cancer (Tardon

et al., 2005). These findings, and others like them, provide a strong basis for encouraging

individuals to perform regular bouts of physical activity, such as exercise. Despite the

clear benefits, as of 2014 only 20.4% of Americans engage in the CDC’s recommended

amount of aerobic and exercise weight training every week, and only 49.2% met the

CDC’s recommended amount of aerobic exercise every week (CDC, 2014) even though

awareness of the benefits of exercise is high in the United States (Morrow, Krzewinski-

Malone, Jackson, Bungum, & FitzGerald, 2004).

This gap has led to an increase in attempts, such as First Lady Michelle Obama’s

“Let’s Move!” campaign, to encourage and influence Americans to exercise.

Additionally, research efforts aimed at increasing physical activity have varied widely in

both form and theoretical approaches (Kiviniemi, Voss-Humke, & Seifert, 2007).

Although some techniques have proven more effective than others, reviews of this

literature point to a need of more effective intervention techniques (Conner, Rhodes,

Morris, McEachan, & Lawton, 2011). Several recent studies have found benefits using

media advertisements to encourage exercise. These advertisements are very popular in

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modern culture and there are many media platforms that would allow for such messages

to be widely disseminated. Despite this potential, currently it is not clear how best to

design such advertisements to successfully increase exercise intentions and behavior.

In addition to this upsurge in general exercise advertisements, an ever-increasing

amount of media advertisements use sexualization and objectification of women to depict

exercise and to sell exercise-related products. Despite a plethora of literature outlining the

negative effects of sexualization and objectification, little research has studied how the

use of these tactics in advertisements may alter feelings towards exercise and exercise

intentions. The current study aimed to fill this gap by examining how sexualized media

advertisements alter exercise-related feelings and intentions. This research also attempted

to identify whether any observed changes in exercise-related feelings serve to mediate

any changes in exercise intentions induced by these advertisements and also tested a

potential moderator of effect of sexualized advertisements on exercise intentions.

Media and Health Behaviors

The media has long been used to influence and change desires and behaviors, but

more recently, attempts to specifically influence healthy behaviors have emerged (Finlay

& Faulkner, 2005). Advertisements used to change behavior have been popular due in

part to their infiltration in every part of our lives – on billboards, in magazines, on

television, on the internet, on buses, and even on our cell phones. Advertisements are able

to reach millions of people with relative ease, and are a popular technique used to

influence people to buy products; it is widely accepted that Americans are exposed to

around 5,000 advertisements every day, though some higher estimates soar closer to the

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approximation of 20,000 advertisements per day (Johnson, 2014). This proliferation in

media exposure has led to the use of advertisements as a means to prosocial change.

One such prosocial advertisement study included displaying posters designed to

reduce sexual violence against women at a university (Potter, Moynihan, Stapleton, &

Banyard, 2009). Results indicated that those who had been exposed to the poster

advertisements at some point during a two-week display period had greater intentions of

preventing and reducing sexual violence against women. Additionally, those who had

been exposed to the posters were more aware that sexual violence against women was an

issue.

In the realm of physical activity, few studies have reported successfully increasing

long-term physical activity behaviors using brief media and advertisements, yet the

combination of studies suggests media advertisements are still a useful way to influence

physical activity knowledge and intentions. For example, in 2005, television and print

advertisements encouraging physical activity were distributed across the state of

Delaware (Peterson, Abraham, & Waterfield, 2005; Study 2). In the survey, distributed to

400 18-30 year olds in Delaware, 62.5% of the sample had seen either the television or

print advertisement, and of those 27.7% indicated that they planned to exercise more in

the future as a result of seeing the ad. Additionally, a different study conducted

specifically targeting children had immense success with increasing children’s awareness

of the exercise campaign (Huhman et al., 2005). This study found that after 1 year of

advertising to 9-13 year old youths, 74% recalled the awareness campaign. The study

also found that as awareness of the campaign increased, so did activity levels in the

youths.

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The above studies suggest beneficial effects of using media advertisements to

encourage healthy behavior intentions, and that advertisements are widely viewed and

noticed by both adults and children. Two different meta-analyses assessing the

effectiveness of exercise media campaigns separately found that, while media campaigns

have previously had success in increasing memory and awareness of the campaigns and

influencing short-term behavior change, the interventions often have little direct effect on

long-term behavior change (Finlay & Faulkner, 2005; Marcus, Owen, Forsyth, Cavill, &

Fridinger, 1998). It is possible that long-term behaviors cannot be directly changed with

brief advertisement campaigns. Even if advertisements do not produce perceptible

changes in long-term behavior, they may prove critical to altering important antecedents

to sustained behavior change—such as feelings toward healthy behaviors, self-

perceptions, short-term behavior changes, and shifts in behavioral intentions. Altering

such antecedents through media campaigns may prove a valuable and cost-effective way

to “nudge” health behavior. In summary, although there has been some preliminary

success using brief media advertisements to influence exercise-related variables, more

work is needed to understand how various variables influence exercise and antecedents to

exercise. Notably, the focus of the current work is on changing exercise-intentions

through media advertisements.

Although advertisements often produce results in the desired and anticipated

direction, some are not always successful and can even backfire. One such technique that

can backfire is the use of fear tactics to change behaviors. One study found that after

viewing advertisements that used fear tactics attempting to reduce smoking, college

students actually showed an increase in curiosity about smoking (Lee & Ferguson, 2002).

5

Findings such as these further highlight the need for additional research exploring the

effectiveness of various advertisement strategies. One strategy that is gaining usage in

advertising, but may also produce unintended effects, is the sexualization of women. As

described next, sexualized media advertisements are frequently employed and they may

alter how individuals respond to advertisements—including those aimed at and related to

health behaviors.

Sexualization and Media

Advertisements have increasingly used sexualization of women as an advertising

technique (Kilbourne, 2010). Sexualization is defined by the APA as occurring when “a

person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of

other characteristics; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness

(narrowly defined) with being sexy,” (American Psychological Association, 2007, p. 2).

A content analysis of advertisements collected from a variety of mainstream magazines

found that over half (51.8%) of advertisements depicting women portrayed them as sex

objects (Stankiewicz & Rosselli, 2008), which points to the prevalence of sexualization

as a marketing tactic.

In the advertising world, sexualization is a popular marketing technique due to the

“attention grabbing” and arousing nature of sexualized media (Belch, Holgerson, Belch,

& Koppman, 1982). Research on the “von Restorff Effect” (Von Restorff, 1933; as cited

in D'Souza, 2012), found that features that stick out or capture attention are more

memorable than less salient features. This work suggests that sexualized advertisements

should theoretically be more memorable because they capture attention, which supports

the commonly known saying that “sex sells”. The salience of sexualized advertisements

6

has been found to be more memorable than non-sexualized advertisements in a handful of

studies, which further supports its use as an advertising technique. For example, one

study found that sexualized television commercials were more memorable than neutral

television commercials (Ferguson, Cruz, Martinez, Rueda, & Ferguson, 2010). Relating

to the current project, sexualized exercise advertisements might thus be effective at

capturing audience attention and might even increase plans to exercise.

Conversely, in the advertising world, some alternate research has shown that

sexualization is not always an effective marketing technique. One study found that

sexualized television commercials were indeed more memorable, but found that these

commercials did not sell more products in the female portion of the sample (Murray,

Burgess, & Aiello, 2014). Additionally, Bushman (2007) found that, embedded in

sexualized media, sexualized commercials were no more memorable than non-sexualized

commercials, and Parker and Furnham (2007) found that sexualized commercials were no

more memorable than non-sexualized commercials. In explaining these results, it was

suggested that sexualized advertisements use more cognitive resources than non-

sexualized advertisements and this inhibits the encoding process of what the

advertisement was aiming to encourage viewers to remember. This suggests that

sexualized advertisements could very well influence viewer’s cognitions about exercise.

Further, a recent meta-analysis found that (1) sexualized advertisements were

seen as less favorable than non-sexualized advertisements, (2) that sexualized

advertisements were no more memorable than non-sexualized advertisements, and (3)

that sexualized advertisements were not more effective at influencing purchasing

behaviors than non-sexualized advertisements (Lull & Bushman, 2015). In combination

7

with previous studies, these results indicate that sexualized exercise advertisements may

not be as effective at changing feelings about exercise and exercise intentions, as one

may believe. That said, research is required to empirically tests the how sexualization

could alter the effectiveness of specifically exercise-related advertisements.

Sexualization and Effects on Women

The sexualization of women is not a new topic in the study of media and

psychology, and the literature has outlined a myriad of studies on how media

sexualization influences women and women’s self-concept. Although it is certainly

possible that sexualization could increase exercise intentions, two lines of arguments

have risen in the general sexualization literature that relate to how sexualized

advertisements may affect these behavioral intentions. The first notion is that

sexualization can result in positive feelings and be empowering to women’s personal self-

concepts (e.g., Vanwesenbeeck, 2009). Specifically, there are increasingly more

powerful, strong, and muscular portrayals of sexualized women in media and advertising

than ever before (Vanwesenbeeck, 2009), and some studies have found that these

sexualized images have uplifting effects on women. For example, one study found that

after viewing sexualized images, women had a brief elevation in self-esteem (Breines,

Crocker, & Garcia, 2008). Additionally, it has been suggested that this sexualization is

empowering (Holland & Attwood, 2009), and various research has found that some

women enjoy being sexualized by others (Liss, Erchull, & Ramsey, 2011). While

researchers, such as Lamb and Peterson (2012), decry participation in self-sexualizing

activities such as lap dancing and imitation of sexualized media, they highlight that some

women experience these activities as positive and empowering. Further, recent research

8

has highlighted that some contemporary women may find sexualization of women in the

media as “less surprising” and more acceptable in today’s society (Zimmerman &

Dahlberg, 2008).

Though sexualization may sometimes be enjoyable, empowering, and perhaps

even effective at changing intentions, a second and well-established line of work points to

the findings that sexualization results in negative feelings and can be harmful to women

as a societal group (e.g., APA, 2007). Research has found an abundance of negative

effects of sexualization on women as a whole, and on women’s personal thoughts and

behaviors (see APA, 2007 for an excellent review). Although some women may find

being sexualized as empowering, the sexualization of women has been found to lead to

the objectification of women by both men and women (Vaes, Paladino, & Puvia, 2011).

Objectification occurs when a person is seen as something to be used by others as

opposed to a person with free will (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), and viewing

sexualized and objectified images of women has been found to lead to the

dehumanization of women (Loughnan et al., 2010) and has lead to increased self-

objectification in women (Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012). Research has found that

women are significantly more likely to engage in self-objectification, and experience

negative affect (e.g., appearance anxiety, negative mood) after viewing thin-ideal images

(Harper & Tiggemann, 2008).

Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) specifically proposes that

when the social context brings about an awareness of actual or potential objectification of

their bodies, women are likely to experience a change in subjective experience. This

change typically includes a combination of negative feelings such as shame and anxiety

9

due to habitual body monitoring and worry about sexual commentary that evaluates their

bodies, which has empirically found to be common (Gardner, 1980). Based on this work

it may be argued that sexualized exercise advertisements may ultimately backfire by

producing negative feelings and reducing the desire to exercise. Data consistent with this

perspective has come from a study by Krawczyk and Thompson (2015). This study found

that after viewing sexualized and objectified media representations of women, both

women and men had increased state body dissatisfaction, though the effect was stronger

for women (Krawczyk & Thompson, 2015).

Relevant to the discussion of how sexualized advertisements influence

individuals’ exercise intentions is recent work on the sexualization of fit women.

Increasingly, female athletes have been portrayed as sexualized in the media. These

sexualized images of female athletes have been found to have negative influences on both

adolescent girls (Daniels, 2012) and adolescent boys (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). For

example, after viewing sexualized images of female athletes, girls were more likely to

view both the athletes and themselves in an objectified light, while seeing the non-

sexualized female athletes as role models (Daniels, 2012). These data may be interpreted

as additional support for the position that viewing sexualized exercise advertisements

may not be viewed positively by women. Relatedly in a different study, after viewing

images of ultra-fit, thin women, female participants scored higher on body dissatisfaction

(Homan, McHugh, Wells, Watson, & King, 2012).

New research has recently studied the effects of young women viewing what are

known as “fispiration” images (Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2015). Fitspiration images are a

type of exercise images that are popular with young women, and are characterized by

10

ultra-thin and ultra-fit women. The term fitspiration is derived from the blend of fit and

inspiration, and women often use these images for body comparison in order to

encourage a healthy lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise. Tiggemann and

Zaccardo (2015) found that after brief exposure to these images compared to control

travel images, women were more dissatisfied with their bodies and were in more negative

mood states. This research suggests that similar sexualized exercise advertisements may

also increase negative affect and damage body image, thus influencing both whether a

female might engage in exercise and why she chooses to do so.

It is possible that women have negative affect after viewing sexualized media

images because they use the images as a point of comparison and thus engage in upward

social comparison. Prior studies find that such upward comparisons often result in

negative feelings (Wood, 1989). Research supporting this notion arrives from a study in

which, after viewing magazine images depicting thin, idealized women, women engaged

in upward social comparison and in turn, felt worse about their bodies and had decreased

satisfaction about their appearance (Engeln–Maddox, 2005). Another study found that

women who were more dissatisfied with their bodies engaged in upward social

comparison more often than women who were less dissatisfied with their bodies (Leahey,

Crowther, & Mickelson, 2007).

Summary

In summary, there are reasons to believe that sexualized media advertisements can

induce positive and negative reactions in individuals, which may, in turn, alter

motivations to engage in exercise. Importantly, the bulk of this literature finds that

sexualized images produce negative feelings in women (and perhaps in some cases men).

11

If this is the case, how might these negative feelings relate to subsequent motivations and

intentions to engage in exercise? Recent data on the link between affect and exercise is

described next.

Affect and Health Behavior

Recent research has suggested that health behavior is not just determined by

cognitive constructs (e.g., knowledge and perceived norms). Rather, affective and

emotional responses appear to be important determinants of health behavior. Affect is

defined as a broad feeling that is consciously available (Ekkekakis, 2012), and typically

is experienced dichotomously (i.e., good vs bad) as a neurophysiological state sometimes

directed at something (i.e., feeling good about exercise), but can sometimes be

experienced and not directed at anything (Russell & Feldman Barrett, 1999). In an early

study into the influence of affect on exercise, researchers conducted a 6-month

longitudinal study to compare standard cognitive variables in health psychology, such as

perceived social norms (e.g. what their close friends think about exercise), to affective

variables (e.g. positive or negative feelings towards exercise) on their efficacy at

predicting exercise behaviors (Lowe, Eves, & Carroll, 2002). This study found that affect

towards exercise directly predicted future exercise behaviors. Another longitudinal study

found that positive (e.g. “feel good”) and negative (e.g., “feel bad”) affective responses

after brief exercise predicted engaging in exercise at both the 6 and 12-month follow-ups

(Williams et al., 2008). Specifically, participants experiencing positive affect exercised

more than those experiencing negative affect. Later in 2012, Williams again found that

positive affect (e.g. “feel good”) during a 10-minute walking session was positively

correlated with weekly physical activity at both 6 months and 12 months follow-up

12

(Williams, Dunsiger, Jennings, & Marcus, 2012). A variety of other studies have

explored this affect–health behavior link, drawing from different theories and using

different measures. For example, one study found both that 1) the more negative obese

adults’ moods were, the less likely they were to exercise, and 2) the more negative their

mood was after exercise, the more likely they were to not exercise in the future (Carels,

Coit, Young, & Berger, 2007).

Kiviniemi and colleagues also demonstrated the value of studying affect in recent

work. They found that affect towards engaging in physical activity correlated with

exercise behaviors (Kiviniemi et al., 2007), and that affect towards eating fruits and

vegetables correlated with fruit and vegetable consumption behaviors (Kiviniemi &

Duangdao, 2009). Importantly, in both studies, affect proved to be a stronger predictor of

behavior than the cognitive variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior (e.g.,

perceived norms; Ajzen, 1991). From their work, Kiviniemi and colleagues proposed

what they call the Affective Association Model (Kiviniemi, et al, 2009). The Affective

Association Model outlines how affective associations mediate the relationship between

cognitions and behaviors, and posit that affect towards a behavior is a stronger and more

proximal predictor of behavior than cognitive variables such as knowing why engaging in

exercise is beneficial.

In reviewing the literature on affect and exercise, Ekkekakis, Hargreaves, and

Parfitt (2013) noted that for centuries, philosophers and experts alike have proposed that

negative affect decreases the likelihood of whether someone will engage in exercise in

the future in that those who feel fatigued or pained from engaging in exercise will likely

not continue to exercise in the future. Consistent with this notion, their qualitative review

13

concludes that positivity relates to increased exercise, and negative affect is associated

with decreased exercise. In a meta-analysis of 85 studies exploring affective judgment as

a single predictor of exercise behaviors, Rhodes, Fiala, and Conner (2009) found that

affective variables have a medium-sized effect on whether someone will engage in

exercise in the future. This analysis also pointed out that although there was a

relationship between affect and participation in physical activity, few studies have

explored ways to manipulate affect towards physical activity.

Taken together, these studies suggest that positive affect is associated with

engaging in health behavior more than negative affect. Further, changing affect towards

exercise may be an effective way to alter exercise intentions. Alternatively, experiences

that link negative feelings to exercise may reduce exercise intentions. Pertinent to the

present research, having sexualized content in exercise advertisements may alter affective

reactions and thereby influence exercise intentions. Thus far though, it has been

unstudied as to whether sexualized exercise advertisements influence the affective system

to influence behavioral change.

Manipulating Positive Affect

Following the findings that affect predicts exercise intentions and participation,

more recent studies have started examining how to change positive affect towards

exercise. For example, in one study nearly 3,500 mid-life, overweight and obese

participants responded to physical advertisements that utilized “gain framed” physical

activity messages (Segar, Updegraff, Zikmund-Fisher, & Richardson, 2012). “Gain

framed” messages are ones that discuss the benefits of engaging in a behavior such as to

reduce cholesterol or increase muscle (Rothman & Salovey, 1997). The results of the

14

Segar et al. (2012) study indicated that framing messages as either to promote physical

activity for “better health,” “weight loss,” or “daily well-being” significantly impacted

how people felt about exercise and that gender and BMI combined to moderate this

effect. Specifically, overweight women felt more positive about exercise after viewing

advertisements aimed at engaging in physical activity for daily well-being, whereas

overweight men felt more negative about exercise after viewing the same types of

advertisements.

One similar study using brief exposure to cognitive versus affective based

advertisements found that men and women who had viewed affective-based

advertisements felt more positively about engaging in exercise than those who had

viewed cognitive-based advertisements (Murray & Geers, 2015). In this study, affective

advertisements were ones that highlighted the positive feelings one might have after

engaging in exercise (e.g. feel good), while cognitive advertisements were ones that

highlighted the analytical health benefits one might have after engaging in exercise (e.g.

lower blood pressure). These two studies provide evidence that affect towards exercise

can be manipulated with only brief exposure to visual print media.

General Summary

Research on the use of brief media messages to influence health behaviors is

quickly expanding. One popular type of marketing technique utilizes sexualization of

women to influence behavior, but this use of sexualization has both positive and negative

effects on women and men (with more research outlining the latter). Although sexualized

exercise images and advertisements are prevalent in the media, no research (to our

15

knowledge) has examined how sexualized exercise-related media messages might

influence exercise intentions.

Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and related research point

to the negative affect experienced after viewing sexualized images, suggesting that

affective processes may be a key mechanism in the influence of sexualized

advertisements on exercise intentions. Specifically, negative feelings evoked by

sexualized advertisements may reduce intentions to exercise. This hypothesis is

consistent with recent studies demonstrating a valuable role for feelings in predicting

exercise behavior. Importantly, this work suggests that negative affect is generally linked

to reduced exercise intentions and behavior. For example, the Affective Association

Model (Kiviniemi, et al, 2009) suggests that the feelings associated with exercise are a

proximal and key predictor of whether someone will engage in exercise in the future.

From this perspective, negative affective associations should reduce exercise, whereas

positive affective associations should increase exercise.

Based on the aforementioned work, it was predicted here that sexualized exercise-

related advertisements lead to lower intentions to engage in exercise as compared to

advertisements that are not sexualized. Second, it was hypothesized that this effect occurs

because sexualized advertisements produce negative feelings and these feelings will

reduce intentions to exercise. This study aimed to explore these links.

16

Chapter 2

Pilot Study

As this research is focused on the influence of sexualized media advertisements,

an initial step was to locate potential stimulus materials. Once found, a pilot study was

conducted. There were three goals to this pilot study. The first goal was to examine

whether students responded as expected to the collected advertisement stimuli (e.g., did

they rate that sexualized advertisements as sexier than control advertisements?). The

second goal was to provide preliminary evidence on the central hypothesis that the

sexualized advertisements will influence student feelings about exercise and perceptions

of exercise. The third goal was to provide data regarding different possible comparison

conditions for the main experiment. An examination of common exercise-related

advertisements used in popular media outlets yielded three types, in addition to

sexualized images. The three were: affective, inspirational, and neutral. Separate

comparison groups were made using each of these three types of ads to provide an initial

diverse set of comparison conditions.

Pilot Study Goals

Goal 1: Which advertisements are most effective at eliciting appropriate awareness of

sexualization and presence of affect?

Goal 2: We hypothesized that students will have less positive feelings toward exercise

after viewing the sexualized advertisements.

Goal 3: How do the sexualized advertisements differ in comparison to the other

advertisement groups?

17

Pilot Study Methods

Ninety developmental and social psychology students (54 female) participated in

exchange for extra credit (M age = 20.73; SD = 2.69). The use of a college-aged sample

with both men and women is valuable for several reasons. First, as sexualized

advertisements are frequently targeted at younger individuals, a college sample is quite

useful. Second, as the present predictions—derived from Objectification Theory—focus

on how women respond to sexualized exercise advertisements, it is critical to have female

participants. Further, it has been suggested that sexualized advertisements are frequently

designed for viewing pleasure by young men while purportedly advertising women’s

products (MissRepresentation, DeKoven, 2012). As such, sexualized advertisements

displaying women and not men—as is the case with the current research—may be aimed

at young men although it is unclear how the ads alter the exercise intentions of these

individuals. In summary, a college sample is ideal for this type of advertisement viewing

and will allow for analysis of how both young women and men view the advertisements,

and how they influence the students’ subsequent exercise intentions.

Participants completed the between-subjects design study online through the

research software program, SurveyGizmo. Participants were randomly assigned to one of

four conditions: affect, neutral (shoes), inspirational, and sexualized. All advertisements

were Nike print exercise-related advertisements similar to advertisements seen in

mainstream media such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, and Vogue, collected online from Google,

or were created for the study using Nike images and adding affective words (Appendix

A).

18

Advertisements were assessed a priori by 2 researchers to determine

advertisement type. An initial sort by the experimenters revealed 4 distinct types of

advertisements: sexualized, affective, inspirational, and neutral. To assess for

sexualization, researchers used the definition of sexualization in Fink and Kensicki's

(2002) study: sexualization occurs when the images portray an individual “dressed

provocatively or photographed in such a way as to focus solely on sexual attributes” (p.

325). To determine whether an advertisement was affective in nature, reviewers assessed

for presence of individuals participating in exercise and smiling. Inspirational

advertisements were selected on the criteria that women were presented as exercising

without affective portrayals (e.g. no smiling faces) and did not display women in a

sexualized manner, but did have inspirational messages. Finally, neutral/shoes were

selected on the criteria that only Nike shoes and some words were present, and no

humans or affective messages were present. This resulted in a total of 17 sexualized

advertisements, 14 affective advertisements, 16 inspirational advertisements, and 15

neutral/shoes advertisements for the pilot study. All advertisements were similar to those

seen in Cosmopolitan, GQ, Sports Illustrated, and other mainstream magazines.

Participants began by reading an online consent form and providing demographic

data. Next, participants viewed the print advertisements. Following each ad, participants

were asked the same six questions (Appendix C): How visually appealing is this

advertisement?, How positive is this advertisement?, How inspiring is this

advertisement?, How sexy is this advertisement?, How do you feel about exercising after

viewing this advertisement?, and After viewing this advertisement, how beneficial do you

19

believe exercise is? Each question was rated on a Likert-type scale from 1 “not at all” to

7 “very”. Finally, participants were debriefed and thanked.

Pilot Study Results

G1: Each advertisement was assessed for how positively each ad was perceived

and each advertisement was assessed for how sexy each advertisement was perceived. To

determine which advertisements were most effective (G1), a truncation procedure was

performed. Previous literature has utilized a truncation procedure to allow for the use of

the images that elicit the strongest reactions. Images are analyzed on the intended

reaction (e.g. sexy) using both the mean and the mode of responses. Images with the

highest means are selected, and then further filtered by using images that have unimodal

responses with the mode being over the midpoint. This procedure was utilized for both

the sexualized advertisements on sexy ratings, and both the affective and inspirational

advertisements on positive affect. By following this procedure, we arrived at 6

advertisements from each of the 4 groups. These 24 advertisements were then used for all

following analyses (see Appendix A).

G2: Next, composite means were created for each group to assess group

differences on the advertisement questions. Multiple one-way ANCOVAs were

conducted to assess each question by condition. Sex was included as a covariate and was

not significant on any of the analyses (p > .05). Levene’s test of equality of covariance of

matrices was not significant indicating equivalent variance across the dependent

measures (p > .05). Each composite mean was assessed for skew and kurtosis and found

that every question was within normal limits (skew < 2, kurtosis < 7).

20

Advertisement condition had a significant main effect on the question “How do

you feel about exercising after viewing this advertisement?” (G2; F (3, 65) = 6.287, p <

.01, ηp2

= .225), with participants feeling the least positive about exercise after sexualized

advertisements (MSexualizedAds = 3.19, SDSexualizedAds = 1.55), followed by the neutral

advertisements (MNeutralAds = 3.54, SDNeutralAds = 1.34), the affective advertisements

(MAffectiveAds = 4.61, SDAffectiveAds = 1.15), and the inspirational advertisements

(MInspirationalAds = 4.87, SDInspirationalAds = 1.55).

Advertisement condition was significant on the question “After viewing this

advertisement, how beneficial do you believe exercise is?” (G2; F (3, 65) = 5.13, p < .01,

ηp2

= .192), with participants rating exercise as being the least beneficial after sexualized

advertisements (MSexualizedAds = 3.45, SDSexualizedAds = 1.79), followed by the neutral

advertisements (MNeutralAds = 3.86, SDNeutralAds = 1.44), the affective advertisements

(MAffectiveAds = 4.78, SDAffectiveAds = 1.17), and the inspirational advertisements

(MInspirationalAds = 5.14, SDInspirationalAds = 1.33).

G3: The sexualized group was analyzed compared to each of the other three

advertisement conditions on all dependent measures using a LSD Post Hoc analysis (see

Table 2.1).

21

Table 2.1

Means and LSD Post Hoc Analyses of Advertisement Groups. Below are the

means and LSD Post Hoc results from the comparison of the sexualized advertisements

to other advertisement groups for each question from the pilot study. Groups that are

significantly different from the sexualized ad group based on LSD Post Hoc analyses are

denoted with a “” symbol.

Question M(SD) Affective Ads

M(SD) Inspirational Ads

M(SD) Neutral Ads

M(SD) Sexualized Ads

How visually appealing is this advertisement?

4.69(1.11) 4.79(1.21) 5.00(1.07) 3.37(1.69)

How positive is this advertisement?

5.26(1.29) 5.43(0.98) 4.02(1.44) 2.93(1.59)

How inspiring is this advertisement?

5.35(1.19) 5.26(1.03) 3.73(1.38) 3.00(1.60)

How sexy is this

advertisement?

3.19(1.35) 3.81(1.30) 2.77(1.72) 4.43(1.91)

How do you feel about exercising after viewing this advertisement?

4.61(1.15) 4.87(1.35) 3.54(1.34) 3.19(1.55)

After viewing this advertisement, how

beneficial do you believe exercise is?

4.78(1.17) 5.14(1.33) 3.86(1.44) 3.45(1.80)

Pilot Study Discussion

The purpose of this pilot study was to select the best advertisements for the main

study, and to test whether participants viewed the different groups of advertisements as

distinctly different. Using a truncation procedure, the top 6 advertisements from each

22

advertisement type were chosen. Analyses indicated, as hypothesized, that feelings

towards exercise were significantly less positive after viewing sexualized advertisements.

One of the strengths of the pilot study is the use of “real world”, professionally

developed advertisements that are already being disseminated to the public. The use of

such images enhances external validity. One potential criticism to this approach,

however, is that while these images let us examine the effects of viewing advertisements

that people are already being exposed to, these advertisements were likely not designed to

encourage exercise, but rather to sell products. Although exercise promotion may not

have been the direct goal of these advertisements, the pilot study indicates that these

advertisements can influence positive affect towards exercise. As such, even though these

ads were not designed to alter feelings toward exercise or intentions, they appear to

readily do so.

Although the pilot study found significant differences between the sexualized

advertisements condition and the other comparison conditions, it had many limitations.

One limitation of the Pilot Study is that the study did not include adequate questions in

order to assess whether the advertisements influenced exercise intentions and if such an

effect would be mediated by positive or negative feelings, or perhaps mediated by other

factors such as feelings about one’s body. Further, we did not include measures to assess

for potential moderators at play. The main study, explained next, aims to fill these gaps.

23

Chapter 3

Main Study

The current study aimed to replicate and expand upon the pilot study. To do so,

this study used the advertisement stimuli used in the pilot study. Importantly, the study

included more participants. This will allow us to test for affective response towards

exercise and exercise behavioral intentions after viewing sexualized exercise

advertisements.

The current study also included a wider array of affective and intention measures;

the measures employed in the pilot study were not designed to provide clear assessments

of affect and intentions. As such, inclusion of more affective and intention measures in

the main study allow for a stronger testing of the hypothesis that these constructs are

being altered by the advertisement stimuli. Further, including more clear measures of

affect and intentions allow for testing the hypothesized mediational role of affect in the

link between sexualized ads and exercise intentions. To provide a broader assessment of

affect, two different types of affect measures were used. First, affect measures that

capture generalized “good” and “bad” feelings about exercise were completed. These

measures are derived from those used in earlier studies examining affect and exercise

(e.g., Kiviniemi, Jandorf, & Erwin, 2013). Second, we also assessed feelings of body

dissatisfaction. One study found that after viewing sexualized and objectified media

representations of women, both women and men had increased state body dissatisfaction,

though the effect was stronger for women (Krawczyk & Thompson, 2015). This, in

combination with Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), suggests that

changes in exercise intentions after viewing sexualized exercise advertisements may be

24

mediated by feelings of body dissatisfaction caused by the advertisements, and may help

explain why some people are motivated by sexualized images and why some people are

discouraged by sexualized images.

The study also included chronic individual difference measures to test for a

variable that may moderate the link between sexualized ads and exercise intentions. In

particular, other research has suggested that an additional variable that might influence

whether someone perceives sexualization as positive or negative is whether she or he

enjoys the sexualization. The Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale was designed to tap into

this difference and to aid research examining how and why being sexualized may not

negatively influence women, and why some women might actually find sexualization

empowering (Liss, et al, 2011). If the enjoyment of sexualization increases positive

responses to sexualized advertisements, and if positive feelings are driving the link

between sexualized advertisement exposure and exercise intentions, then the enjoyment

of sexualization may be an important moderating variable between sexualization in the

media and behavior change. The Affective Association Model (Kiviniemi et al., 2007)

strengthens this theorization – if participants enjoy the sexualization and are then

presented with sexualized exercise advertisements, their general positive affect may also

map onto their affect towards exercise specifically.

Hypotheses

H1: Sexualized exercise advertisements will negatively influence participants’

behavioral intentions to exercise, in that after viewing sexualized exercise

advertisements, participants will have lower intentions to exercise as compared to

participants viewing the affective, inspirational, and neutral advertisements.

25

H2: Based on the pilot study, it is anticipated that the sexualized exercise advertisements

will induce negative feelings. In the main study, two facets of negative feelings that

might be altered by the advertisements will be examined. First, we will assess generalized

feelings about exercise (thus, affectivity about exercise). Second, we will also assess

feelings of body dissatisfaction (thus, affectivity about one’s own body). It is expected

that, as compared to the other advertisement conditions, the sexualized advertisement

condition will raise negative affect on both of these measures.

H3: The influence of the sexualized advertisements on exercise intentions is anticipated

to be statistically mediated by negative feelings. As explained, two different facets of

affect are being assessed in the current study. Thus, Hypothesis 3 was split between the

two potential mediators in that H31 is that affect mediates the relationship between

advertisement type and exercise intentions. H32 is that state body image mediates the

relationship between advertisement type and exercise intentions.

H4: It is predicted that enjoyment of sexualization will moderate the relationship

between sexualized advertisements and affect and exercise intentions. Specifically, it is

anticipated that participants who enjoy sexualization more will have less negative affect

after viewing the sexualized exercise advertisements than participants who enjoy

sexualization. Further, it is expected that participants who enjoy sexualization more will

have lower intentions to exercise less after viewing the sexualized exercise

advertisements than participants who enjoy sexualization.

Participants and Design

Two hundred fifty-two female undergraduate students from a large-sized

Midwestern university with a mean age of 19.37(SD = 3.41) participated in the study as

26

partial credit for their Introduction to Psychology course, or as extra credit for another

psychology course. Students were asked to self-identify race, and were allowed to choose

more than one with the outcome as follows: 69% Caucasian, 19.8% Black/African

American, 7.1% Hispanic, 5.2% Asian pacific islander, 2.8% American Indian/Alaskan

native, and 5.6% other. Fourty-two (16.7%) of the participants failed at least one of the

attention checks (explained below and presented in Appendix H). Given the large portion

of the sample with some attention lapses, and the fact that we did not apriori set these

attention checks up as an anticipated data filter, we did not cut these individuals from the

overall sample that was analyzed. That said, exploratory analyses were done to assess

whether the results diverged markedly with them excluded. The results remained similar

with and without these participants1. In the current study, there were 4 between-subjects

conditions: an affective advertisements group, an inspirational advertisements group, a

neutral advertisements group, and a sexualized advertisements group.

After obtaining consent (Appendix J), using a cover story (Appendix B), students

were randomly assigned to view 6 advertisements from 1 of the 4 possible groups

(Appendix A). After viewing each advertisement for the first time, participants were

asked a series of questions (Appendix C) to evaluate the advertisement before seeing the

images a second time to better replicate the repetitive nature of advertisements. After the

1 Similar to the main study, the following questions differed significantly by condition

when assessed with a single MANOVA analysis with the 42 students who failed at least

one attention check: How visually appealing is this advertisement? F(3,167) = 9.42**,

How positive is this advertisement? F(3,167) = 36.99**, How inspiring is this

advertisement? F(3,167) = 35.01**, How sexy is this advertisement? F(3,167) = 44.22**,

Engaging in exercise is (harmful to beneficial): F(3,167) =2.98*, Engaging in exercise is

(pleasant to unpleasant): F(3,167) = 5.00**, When I think about engaging in physical

activity I feel shame: F < 1, When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel

anxious: F < 1.

27

advertisements, participants completed a series of questionnaires including affective

measures (Murray & Geers, 2015; Kiviniemi, 2014; Kiviniemi, et al, 2007; Appendix D),

the Body Image States Scale (Cash, Fleming, Alindogan, Steadman, & Whitehead, 2002;

Appendix E), the Enjoyment of Sexualization (Liss, et al, 2011; Appendix F), an

additional potential moderator scale (Motives for Physical Activity Measure – Revised;

Ryan, Frederick, Lepes, Rubio, & Sheldon, 1997; Appendix I) and demographic

information (Appendix G). Finally, participants were debriefed (Appendix K), thanked,

and dismissed.

Materials and Measures

Images. Advertisements were the 24 advertisements (after using the truncation

procedure) obtained from the pilot study (Appendix A). Students were randomly assigned

to view 6 of the 24 advertisements, forming 4 between-subjects groups of images:

neutral, positive affect, inspirational, and sexualized.

Advertisement Questions. Following each advertisement, participants filled out

a series of Likert-type questions from the pilot study (Appendix C) in order to assess

students’ evaluations of the advertisements and to make the cover story seem more

plausible. An additional question was added to further enhance the cover story: “How

likely are you to buy a product from this company after seeing this advertisement?”.

Finally, four affective type questions (2 positive, 2 negative; Kiviniemi, 2014; Appendix

D) were used to better capture subtle changes in affect.

Affective and Intention Questions. In order to assess Hypotheses 2-4, following

the second viewing of the advertisements participants completed affective and behavioral

intentions questions about exercise (Murray & Geers, 2015; Kiviniemi, 2014; Kiviniemi,

28

et al, 2007; Appendix D), which included questions such as “How much do you enjoy

exercising?” and “I plan on being physically active for ____ days a week for the next 6

months.” These questions assess participants’ positive and negative affect towards

exercise and have Cronbach’s alphas ranging from 0.70 to 0.90. Additionally, these

questions were developed from previous studies, and have been used in other studies for

a variety of different behaviors including exercise (Murray & Geers, 2015) and fruit and

vegetable consumption (Kiviniemi & Duangdao, 2009).

State Body Image. In order to assess Hypothesis 2 and 3, participants completed

the Body Image Scale States (Cash, et al, 2002; Appendix E) to assess how positively or

negatively they feel about their body at that moment in time. This scale was created for

use in both women and men and consists of 6 questions about the participant’s body at

that moment in time, with questions such as “Right now I feel satisfied with my physical

appearance” and “Right now I feel satisfied with my weight”, rated on a 9-point scale

from “Extremely dissatisfied” to “Extremely satisfied”. This scale has been shown to have

acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha = .90; Cash, et al, 2002). Additionally,

this scale has been used in a variety of different studies to assess body image satisfaction

(e.g. Halliwell, Easun, & Harcourt, 2011; Ip & Jarry, 2008; Vocks, Legenbauer, & Heil,

2007).

Enjoyment of Sexualization. In order to assess Hypothesis 4, participants

completed the Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale (Liss, et al, 2011; Appendix F), which

includes questions such as “I feel proud when (wo)men compliment the way I look,” and

“I like showing off my body.” These questions assess how participants perceive being

sexualized in different situations, and has been found to have acceptable internal

29

consistency with a Cronbach’s alphas of .85. All questions are Likert-type questions on a

scale from 1-6, “Disagree Strongly” to “Agree Strongly”.

Demographics. Demographic information included: age, race, sex, height,

weight, questions assessing their current amount of exercise, access to facilities where

they can exercise, level of education, and major (Appendix G).

Attention Check Items. Throughout the experiment, participants were directed

towards questions that have distinctly correct answers to assess whether or not the

participant is paying attention (Appendix H). These questions include: “How many

answer options are in this question?” and “How many words are in this sentence?”.

Instructions will indicate that these questions have a distinctly correct answer, while other

questions are simply measuring how the participant thinks or feels. Additional attention

checks will be asked at the end of the study (Appendix H). These questions include:

“What company was being advertised in the advertisements you viewed?,” and “What

gender were the people in the advertisements you viewed?”. Participants were also asked

additional exploratory questions to assess potential moderators will also be included

(Appendix K). Finally, attention check questions such as “How visually appealing is this

advertisement” will be included (Appendix C).

Procedure

Participants were recruited from the University of Toledo human subjects

participant pool. After arriving in the lab, participants (completing the study in small

groups) were greeted by a student experimenter and were be seated at a computer to

complete the survey on PsychData, a computer-based data collection tool. Participants

then completed an informed consent document (Appendix J) stating that the participant

30

will view advertisements to assess how people perceive advertisements and then

complete a series of questionnaires. The consent form also indicated that participants can

quit the study at any time, with no penalty.

Students were given a cover story that includes telling students that they are

completing the study in order to test memory for advertisements (Appendix B). This

cover story was in order to attempt to mask the actual purpose of the study. Participants

were then instructed via words on the screen that they will begin by viewing a series of 6

advertisements (Appendix A) collected from popular media similar to what would be

seen in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, People, and other mainstream magazines.

Next, they answered a series of questions about each advertisement (Appendix C). The

participant then viewed the advertisements a second time faster and without answering

questions to better replicate the quick and repetitive nature of viewing advertisements.

This second viewing of advertisements serves two purposes: 1) it strengthens the cover

story (Appendix B) that this is an advertisement study rather than an exercise study, and

2) it allows the students to see the advertisements a second time without being distracted.

Participants were then asked to fill out additional questions regarding their

feelings towards exercise (Kiviniemi, 2014; Kiviniemi, et al, 2007; Appendix D),

exercise intentions (Murray & Geers, 2015), the Body Image States Scale (Cash, et al,

2002; Appendix E), the Enjoyment of Sexualization (Liss, et al, 2011; Appendix F), and

additional potential mediator questionnaires (Appendix I). Next participants completed

demographic information (Appendix G), and an attention check questionnaire (Appendix

H). Finally, participants were thanked, debriefed (Appendix K), and dismissed.

31

Results

Statistical tests were two-tailed with alpha set at < .05. To analyze positive affect

towards exercise, we collapsed the following questions to create a single mean positive

affect (M = 3.34, SD = .96): When you think about exercising, do you feel happy,

delighted, satisfied, joyful, and relaxed. To analyze for negative affect towards exercise,

we collapsed the following questions to create a single mean negative affect: When you

think about exercising do you feel disgusted, shame, anxious, angry, annoyed, sad, and

embarrassed (M = 1.59 SD = .60). To assess intentions towards exercise, a mean for the

questions indicating how many days the participant intends to participate in light,

moderate, and vigorous exercise over the next month, and how many days they plan to

exercise over the next 7 days was created (M = 4.88, SD = 1.43). To assess prior exercise,

a mean for the questions indicating how many days the participant participated in light,

moderate, and vigorous exercise over the previous 7 days was created (M = 4.37, SD =

1.63). Levene’s test of equality of covariance of matrices was not significant indicating

equivalent variance across the dependent measures (p > .05). Each composite mean was

assessed for skew and kurtosis and found that every question was within normal limits

(skew < 2, kurtosis < 7). Additionally, composite scores were created for each of the

questions viewed after each advertisement and are shown below (see Table 3.1. All of the

trends were similar to the findings from the Pilot Study.

32

Table 3.1

Summary of advertisement questions means and standard deviations by condition.

Advertisement Condition

Question ANOVA

Results

Positive

Affect

M(SD)

Inspiring

M(SD

Neutral

M(SD)

Sexualized

M(SD)

How visually

appealing is this

advertisement?

F (3,208) = 10.66** 5.49(.94) 5.33(.80) 5.37(1.00) 4.51(1.18)

How positive is this

advertisement?

F (3,208) = 38.49** 5.84(.96) 5.97(.73) 4.79(1.21) 4.17(1.07)

How inspiring is this

advertisement?

F (3,208) = 37.18** 5.45(1.02) 5.62(.77) 4.03(1.35) 3.94(1.07)

How sexy is this

advertisement?

F (3,208) = 57.53** 2.97(1.28) 3.03(1.41) 1.94(1.22) 5.13(1.21)

Engaging in exercise

is: (harmful to

beneficial)

F (3,208) = 4.64** 6.28(1.18) 6.43(.64) 5.90(1.24) 5.71(1.26)

Engaging in exercise

is: (pleasant to

unpleasant)

F (3,208) = 6.01** 1.98(1.08) 2.46(1.16) 2.36(1.24) 2.94(1.17)

How likely are you

to buy a product

from this company

after seeing this

advertisement?

F (3,208) = 6.17** 3.94(1.24) 4.38(1.15) 4.16(1.13) 3.46(1.11)

When I think about

engaging in physical

activity I feel shame.

F (3,208) = 2.06 1.67(1.33) 1.58(.87) 1.34(.73) 1.80(.97)

When I think about

engaging in physical

activity I feel

anxious.

F < 1 2.35(1.65) 2.34(1.60) 2.25(1.61) 2.57(1.56)

Note: *p < .05, **p < .01; all scales are from 1-7 not at all to very except the two

questions assessing how beneficial and pleasant participants feel engaging in exercise is.

33

Hypothesis 1. Hypothesis One predicted that sexualized exercise advertisements

will negatively influence participants’ behavioral intentions to exercise, in that after

viewing sexualized exercise advertisements, participants will have lower intentions to

exercise as compared to participants viewing the affective, inspirational, and neutral

advertisements. In order to assess the effect of advertisement type on behavioral

intentions, an ANOVA was conducted with behavioral intentions as the dependent

variable and advertisement condition as the independent variable (see Table 3.1). This

ANOVA did not yield a significant effect of condition (F < 1, p > .05).

Table 3.2

Summary of key variable means and standard deviations by condition for the Main Study.

Advertisement Condition

Variable Positive

Affect

M(SD)

Inspiring

M(SD

Neutral

M(SD)

Sexualized

M(SD)

Exercise Intentions 4.86(1.46) 4.65(1.40) 4.98(1.51) 4.91(1.25)

Positive Affect

Towards Exercise

3.28(1.06) 3.35(.95) 3.43(.89) 3.38(.92)

Negative Affect

Towards Exercise

1.49(.53) 1.52(.51) 1.62(.65) 1.71(.66)

BISS 31.63(11.61) 31.64(9.84) 33.38(10.57) 30.00(11.98)

Prior Exercise 4.42(1.63) 4.27(1.49) 4.52(1.82) 4.30(1.63)

Note: BISS = Body Image States Scale

*p < .05, **p < .01.

Hypothesis 2. Based on the Pilot Study, it was anticipated that the sexualized

exercise advertisements would induce negative feelings. First, we assessed generalized

feelings about exercise (thus, affectivity about exercise). Second, we also assessed

feelings of body dissatisfaction (thus, affectivity about one’s own body). It was expected

that, as compared to the other advertisement conditions, participants in the sexualized

advertisement condition would report greater negative affect on both of these feeling

34

measures. In order to assess the effect of advertisement type on feelings, three separate

ANOVAs were conducted. In the first two of these ANOVAs, mean responses (see Table

3.1) to the positive feelings and then negative feelings about exercise questions served as

the dependent variable and condition as the independent variable. Neither of these

ANOVAs produced a significant effect of condition (F < 1, p > .05). In the third

ANOVA, the composite score to the Body Image States Scale served as the dependent

variable and the finding was not significant (F < 1, p > .05).

Hypothesis 3. The influence of the sexualized advertisements on exercise

intentions was anticipated to be statistically mediated by negative feelings. As explained,

two different facets of affect were assessed in the current study. Thus, Hypothesis 3 was

split between the two potential mediators in that H31 was that affect mediates the

relationship between advertisement type and exercise intentions (Baron & Kenny, 1986).

H32 was that state body image mediates the relationship between advertisement type and

exercise intentions. Bootstrapping mediation analyses were conducted to assess the

potential mediation of the positive affect measures between advertisement type (IV) and

behavioral intentions (DV) (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). As both feelings toward exercise

and feelings towards one’s own body were measured, scores on both measures were

included simultaneously to compare the relative merits of these two potential mediating

variables. Neither affect variable served as a significant mediator in the Bootstrapping

analysis (both p’s > .05).

Hypothesis 4. It was predicted that individual differences in the enjoyment of

sexualization would moderate the relationship between sexualized advertisements and

affect and exercise intentions. Specifically, it was anticipated that participants who enjoy

35

sexualization more will have less negative affect after viewing the sexualized exercise

advertisements than participants who do not enjoy sexualization. Further, it was expected

that participants who enjoy sexualization more would have lower intentions to exercise

after viewing the sexualized exercise advertisements than participants who enjoy

sexualization less.

Three separate hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to assess

the prediction that enjoyment of sexualization moderates the relationship between

advertisement condition and positive affect, negative affect, and exercise intentions. The

first regression analysis explored exercise intentions as the criterion variable, the second

regression analysis explored positive affect as the criterion variable, and the third

regression analysis explored negative affect as the criterion variable (see Tables 3.2, 3.3,

and 3.4).

Table 3.3.

Summary of Hierarchical Regression for Condition and Enjoyment of Sexualization

Predicting Exercise Intentions

Step 1 Step 2

Variable B SE B β B SE B β

Dc1 -.12 .25 -.04 -.21 .25 -.06

Dc2 -.38 .24 -.12 -.49* .24 -.16

Dc3 -.11 .25 -.04 -.21 .25 -.06

Enjoyment of

Sexualization

.19* .09 .14 .69*** .19 .49

Dc1xEoS -.69** .26 -.24

Dc2xEoS -.46 .25 -.18

Dc3xEos -.80** .26 -.28

R2 .027 .068

F for change in

R2

1.66 3.57*

Note: Dc1 = neutral vs positive affect, Dc2 = neutral vs inspirational, Dc3 = neutral vs

sexualized, EoS = Enjoyment of Sexualization

*p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001

36

Table 3.4.


Predicting Positive Affect Towards Exercise

Step 1 Step 2


Dc1 -.22 1.7 -.10 -.25 .17 -.11

Dc2 -.16 .16 -.07 -.20 .17 -.09

Dc3 -.15 .17 -.07 -.18 .18 -.09

Enjoyment of

Sexualization

.23*** .06 .24 .37** .13 .39

Dc1xEoS -.18 .18 -.09

Dc2xEoS -.09 .17 -.05

Dc3xEos -.32 .18 -.16

R2 .058 .071

F for change in

R2

3.65** 1.13



*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

Table 3.5.


Predicting Negative Affect Towards Exercise

Step 1 Step 2


Dc1 -.12 .11 -.09 -.11 .11 -.08

Dc2 -.10 .11 -.07 -.09 .11 -.07

Dc3 .10 .11 .07 .09 .11 .07

Enjoyment of

Sexualization

-.02 .04 -.04 -.02 .08 -.04

Dc1xEoS -.09 .12 -.07

Dc2xEoS -.05 .11 -.05

Dc3xEos .15 .12 .12

R2 .151 .214

F for change in

R2

1.37 1.81



*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

37

For each regression, a mean score of the Enjoyment of Sexualization (Liss, et al,

2011; Appendix F) was used as the moderating variable. In each regression analysis,

condition (effect-coded, see below), Enjoyment of Sexualization (standardized), and prior

exercise (standardized) were included on the first step of the model. As condition is a

four-level categorical variable, and was included in the analysis by three effect-coded

predictor variables by comparing the neutral condition to each of the other three

conditions (see Jaccard, Turisis, & Wan, 1990). The first condition term (Dc1)

represented the comparison of the neutral advertisements group to the positive affect

advertisements group. The second condition term (Dc2) represented the comparison of

the neutral advertisements group to the inspirational advertisements group. Finally, the

third condition term (Dc3) represented the comparison of the neutral advertisements

group to sexualized advertisements group. The second step included the interactions

between the condition terms and Enjoyment of Sexualization. Out of the 9 interactions

tested in these three regression models, two interactions were significant and one

interaction was marginally significant (all other ps > .05). One significant interaction was

observed in the positive affect advertisements group with enjoyment of sexualization and

exercise intentions (b = -0.24, t = -2.62 p < .01). The other significant interaction was

observed in the sexualized advertisements group with enjoyment of sexualization and

exercise intentions (b = -0.277, t = -3.039, p < .01). Finally, the interaction of enjoyment

of sexualization between the inspirational advertisements group and exercise intentions

was found to be marginally significant (b = -0.183, t = -1.187, p = .063).

38

Simple slopes tests revealed that these interaction findings were primarily due to a

positive slope in the neutral condition, and a negative slope in the positive affect group

and sexualized advertisements group (see Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1. Hierarchical regression for condition and Enjoyment of Sexualization

predicting exercise intention.

The inspirational advertisements group had a positive slope that was less steep than the

neutral group, resulting in the marginally significant finding. In the neutral

advertisements condition, those who scored lower on enjoyment of sexualization had

lower intentions of engaging in exercise while those who scored higher on enjoyment of

sexualization had higher intentions of engaging in exercise. Thus, it appears that in

neutral contexts, individuals high in the enjoyment of sexualization intend to exercise

more than those scoring low in the enjoyment of sexualization. In both the positive affect

advertisements condition and the sexualized advertisements condition, participants who

scored lower in enjoyment of sexualization had slightly higher intentions of engaging in

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

low enjoyment high enjoyment

Ex

erci

se I

nte

nti

on

s (1

-7)

Enjoyment of Sexualization

neutral

positive

inspirational

sexualized

39

exercise than those who scored higher in enjoyment of sexualization. Interestingly, in the

inspirational group, almost identical results were found in participants who scored lower

in enjoyment of sexualization, whereas those higher in enjoyment of sexualization in the

inspirational group had fewer exercise intentions than those in the control group, but still

had higher intentions than those who scored lower in enjoyment of sexualization.

Discussion

This study was designed to test the influence of different exercise advertisements

on women’s affect towards exercise and their future intentions to engage in exercise.

Specifically, we were interested in whether sexualized exercise advertisements negatively

influenced women’s feelings about exercise and their body image, and whether as a

result, were less likely to report planning to exercise in the future. Alternatively, we were

also interested in whether positive affective type advertisements benefited women’s body

image, and as a result increased intentions to engage in exercise in the future. Although

most of our hypotheses for the study were not supported, a few findings have the

potential to shed new light to the study of sexualized advertising. Below I review the a

priori hypotheses and the specific results relevant to each.

Hypothesis 1. First, it was hypothesized that sexualized exercise advertisements

would negatively influence participants’ intentions to engage in exercise as compared to

participants who viewed the affective, inspirational, and neutral advertisements. An

ANOVA exploring differences between advertisement groups failed to result in any

significant differences between groups on a measure of exercise intentions. This null

result was surprising, as the Pilot Study provided evidence that those in the sexualized

advertisement condition intended to engage in less exercise than those in other groups. It

40

is unclear why this result did not manifest in the main study. One possibility, discussed in

more detail later, is that the pilot data and main study were conducted from different

geographic locations, which possibly could have hindered replication of the Pilot Study.

Hypothesis 2. In the second hypothesis it was predicted that the sexualized

exercise advertisements would result in more negative feelings than the other three types

of advertisements. We suggested that these negative feelings could manifest in several

different ways, namely general feelings towards exercise (affect towards exercise) and

specific feelings towards one’s body (body dissatisfaction). We explored this hypothesis

by conducting ANOVAs on participants’ body image and affect toward exercise as a

function of condition. Neither of these affect dependent variables differed significantly

based on condition. This result is also in opposition of the findings of the Pilot Study.

Hypothesis 3. We then predicted that the influence of advertisement type on

exercise intentions would be statistically mediated by affective feelings. We attempted to

explore the potential mediations of affect towards exercise and feelings towards one’s

body between advertisement type and behavioral intentions, and found no significant

mediational effects. This lack of mediation makes sense, given the ANOVAs revealed

that the condition manipulation did not directly alter intentions or affect.

Hypothesis 4. Our final hypothesis focused on a potential moderator of exercise

intentions: individual differences in the enjoyment of sexualization. Specifically, it was

predicted that those who enjoy sexualization would have less negative affect after

viewing the sexualized advertisements than participants who do not enjoy sexualization;

thus those who enjoy sexualization more would have lower intentions to engage in

exercise in the future. Regression analyses testing for the moderating role of the

41

enjoyment of sexualization construct did produce several significant results. First, the

regression models for exercise intentions produced significant interactions between those

who saw the neutral advertisements and those who saw the positive affect

advertisements, the sexualized advertisements, and the inspiring advertisements

(marginally significant). Further exploration of the simple slopes revealed that those who

were high in enjoyment of sexualization had higher intentions of engaging in exercise

when they saw the neutral ads, but significantly lower intentions when seeing any of the

other types of ads.

One possible explanation for these interaction effects is that the neutral shoe

advertisements resulted in greater processing of planning to exercise without having other

effects of comparisons to people depicted in the advertisements. It is not clear why this

would occur, but is a viable account. Alternatively, as the neutral advertisements were

simply advertisements depicting shoes, this could be construed as the baseline of what

women’s exercise intentions are, and that their reactions to the different ads depend on

women’s levels of Enjoyment of Sexualization. If this is the case, why would individuals

high in enjoyment of sexualization report lower intentions for exercise in the inspiration,

positive affect, and sexualized conditions?

One possibility is that, for those who score higher in Enjoyment of Sexualization,

engaging in physical activity and being physically fit, while also being “sexy” is

important to their sense of self. As such, when presented with advertisements depicting

women who are physically fit (as are in the other 3 groups of advertisements) and

hypersexualized (as are in the sexualized group), those high in enjoyment of

sexualization felt threatened. This suggestion is supported by the finding in a separate

42

study where women engaged in upward social comparison after viewing magazine

images featuring women depicted as thin and idealized (Engeln—Maddox, 2005). These

women reported feeling worse about their bodies and appearance. Conversely, when

those who saw the exercise advertisements and were low in Enjoyment of Sexualization,

the positive and sexualized advertisements were actually motivational. This is similar to

the finding that sexualized advertisements can result in a brief increase in self-esteem

(Breines, Crocker, & Garcia, 2008) and consequently, our participants had higher

intentions to engage in exercise than those who saw the neutral or inspirational

advertisements.

The above interaction may be further elaborated upon by exploring the content of

the sexualized advertisements specifically. Upon further examination after the study was

conducted, the sexualized advertisements employed depict women wearing exercise

apparel, but in passive positions; only one depicted a woman engaging in exercise, and

thus actively engaging in her environment. Conversely, the positive and inspirational

advertisements depict women as actively engaging in exercise and in their environment.

Future research could perhaps explore the effects of positive affect-type messages paired

with exercise advertisements depicting women as active in their environments. This could

be in comparison to positive affect-type messages paired with neutral exercise

advertisements, or also exploring the comparison with women depicted as not active in

their environment.

Interestingly, in both the positive and sexualized advertisements groups (but not

inspirational) similar results were found in that, regardless of enjoyment of sexualization,

women had similar intentions to engage in exercise in the future. Although it could be

43

argued that this suggests that advertisements depicting sexualized women do no harm

(and may even be slightly motivational), other research suggests that sexualizing and

objectifying women has a plethora of other negative social influences on women as a

group (see APA, 2007 and Schooler, 2015). Future research could perhaps explore the

effects of positive affect-type messages paired with exercise advertisements depicting a

range of body types in comparison to positive affect-type messages paired with neutral

exercise advertisements. For example, some research has found that when viewing body

types that are smaller than average (Victoria’s Secret models) as compared to body types

more closely aligned with the average body size (Dove Love Your Body Campaign

models), women stated that they wished to have bodies closer to the size of a Victoria’s

Secret model, and additionally believed that these bodies could be achieved through

regular diet and moderate exercise (Burgess, Hall, Pollard, Ward, 2008). This suggests

that women may have different affective responses to viewing advertisements depicting

different body types, and specifically that different types of bodies could influence the

amount of physical activity that women want to engage in.

Discussion of Null Results. Though there was a lack of support for our

hypotheses revolving around affective feelings and advertisements’ direct impact on

exercise intentions, all of these findings were important in several ways, namely that

there is a possibility that the effect of advertisements may differ in different areas of the

United States. One major limitation of this study is that the Pilot Study was conducted,

out of convenience, at a medium-sized university in the Southwest, whereas the Main

Study was conducted at a larger university in the Midwest; it is possible that the regional

differences could point towards the differential results found in the Main Study in

44

comparison to the Pilot Study. Future research should explore the effects of these

advertisements in different areas – perhaps participants from either of the regions have

even different reactions to these advertisements, and participants from all over the United

States might exhibit an even different pattern. For example, some research has examined

regional differences in the United States and levels of collectivism, and found a

difference in the amount of collectivistic culture tendencies (Vandello & Cohen, 1999).

Although no research has yet looked at regional differences in how sexualization or

advertisements and how cultural norms may influence these perceptions, it may be that

socialization processes in place in these regions alter responses to sexualized

advertisements.

Another study found that there were differences in urban versus rural women’s

reasons for engaging in exercise and barriers to engaging in exercise (Wilcox, Castro,

King, Housemann, & Brownson, 2000). Seeing as the Pilot Study was conducted in a

primarily rural area, and the Main Study was conducted in a more urban area, this points

to another possibility that could help explain the differences between the Pilot Study and

Main Study. Both studies additionally included several methodological limitations, as

discussed further below.

Limitations. This study included several limitations. First, as already discussed,

the Pilot Study and the Main Study found different results, but were also collected from a

different regions of the United States. It is possible that different areas of the United

States may have different reactions to these advertisements. Additionally, these results

may not generalize to women as a whole – perhaps females of different age groups (other

than the typical college-aged sample as was the Main Study and Pilot Study) have

45

different moderators that influence their reactions to these advertisements and these

advertisements may not be as motivational for them. For example, one study found that

across the lifespan, women have differing feelings of discontent about their bodies in that

younger women are significantly more discontent than older women (Öberg & Tornstam,

1999).

Several methodological limitations could have also influenced the findings in the

Main Study. For example, though literature often employs a range from five to nine

advertisements (e.g. Bushman, 2007), there is a possibility that using more

advertisements could have produced a stronger effect, though little research has explored

the differential effect of increasing the number of advertisements employed. Furthermore,

it is possible that using more dynamic images (e.g. videos or gif files that include moving

pictures) could elicit a stronger reaction, but this has not yet been tested. Some of the

images utilized were also similar, as noted by the researchers before the study. The

inspirational and the positive affective images both elicited similar ratings in the Pilot

Study, but it was hypothesized that perhaps they could still elicit different affective

reactions in relation to exercise, which was not assessed in the Pilot Study. By not

including the inspirational images, there could have been some increased separation in

the results.

One method for capturing this separation could be to use different measures to

assess participants’ affect towards exercise or affective changes while viewing the

advertisements. Recent research on affect has started utilizing implicit measures such as

the Affective Misattribution Paradigm (Payne, Cheng, Govorun, & Stewart, 2005) to

capture unconscious affective feelings related to physical activity (Murray, 2017).

46

Furthermore, capturing physiological measures such as facial electromyopraphy signals,

skin conductance response, electroencephalography, and respirations while participants

view exercise-related advertisements could give insight into the real-time changes in

affect (Zhou, Qu, Helander, & Jiao, 2011).

Another methodological limitation is that though we hypothesized that

specifically negative affect would be influenced by these advertisements, we did not

include advertisements that portrayed women exhibiting negative affect while exercising.

Newer affective research indicates that, rather being on a continuum, behavior is

influenced separately by both positive and negative affect (e.g., Kiviniemi, Jandorf, &

Erwin, 2014). Additionally, there is a possibility that by telling students that the study

was assessing their memory for advertisements, the students engaged in cognitively

thinking about the advertisements as opposed to engaging in more feeling-based

reactions. This possibility is supported by a study that found that the context in which the

advertisement is presented can influence how the advertisement is perceived (Yi, 1990).

More specifically, the study found that when an attribute such as cognitive-focus or

affect-focus are primed, participants were more likely use that information to view and

interpret the advertisement information. Future research could consider altering the

mindset of the participants to see if different patterns of results are found when

participants engage in more cognitive or emotional thinking about exercise

advertisements in particular.

Furthermore, students may not be interested in exercising currently, and

advertisements alone may not be enough to influence them to change their exercise

intentions. If we continue the argument that the neutral group is representative of what

47

women’s baseline intentions of exercise behaviors are, these women had lower intentions

to engage in exercise than all of the groups except the inspirational group who scored low

in Enjoyment of Sexualization. This suggests that exercise may not be central to these

women’s sense of self and that other priorities (e.g. school, work) may be more important

to them than exercise. Further research needs to be conducted on the different activities

that are important to college-aged women and seeing how different variables central to

their sense of self may be involved in their exercise activities.

In sum, this study found several notable results, but was also conducted with

limitations that could have hindered additional findings. It is important to note that due to

the puzzling differences between the pilot and main studies, replication is crucial to

drawing any conclusions from this study. Importantly, this study was the first to explore

how different exercise-related advertisements that people are exposed to may influence

whether college-aged women intend to engage in exercise, and the mechanisms behind

these intentions. Additionally, this study opened up future directions in advertisements

specifically related to portrayals of women, positive affect towards exercise, and exercise

intentions. Finally, this study was also an important step in gaining information about the

possible differences between women from different areas of the United States and how it

is important for research to conduct studies at more than just a single university at a

single area. Advertisements are viewed across the entire United States, and this study

importantly suggests that differential findings may emerge with different regions,

pointing towards the need for more research in the field.

48

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59

Appendix A

Nike Advertisements

Truncated Affective Advertisements

60

Truncated Neutral Advertisements

61

Truncated Inspirational Advertisements

63

Truncated Sexualized Advertisements

65

Appendix B

Cover Story

This study will include a cover story in order to help mask the intended purpose of the

study:

The purpose of this experiment today is to assess your memory for advertisements and

what you think about advertisements. In order to assess this, we need to wait a few

minutes for the images to be stored in your long-term memory. During this time, we have

a few questionnaires for a separate study for you to complete.

66

Appendix C

Advertisement Questions

* Indicates that the question was not on the pilot study, but will be included in the main

study.

† Indicates that the question was included on the pilot study, but will be removed from

the main study.


1

Not at all Visually

Appealing

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Visually

Appealing


1

Not at all Positive

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Positive


1

Not at all Inspiring

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Inspiring

How sexy is this advertisement?

1

Not at all Sexy

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Sexy

67

† How do you feel about exercising after viewing this advertisement?

1

Not at all Positive

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Positive

† After viewing this advertisement, how beneficial do you believe exercise is?

1

Not at all Beneficial

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Beneficial

* How likely are you to buy a product from this company after seeing this advertisement?

1

Not at all Likely

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Likely

* When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel shame.

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

* When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel happy. 1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

* When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel anxious.

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

68

* When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel delighted.

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

* When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel embarrassed.

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

* When I think about engaging in physical activity I feel joyful.

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

*How ambitious is the woman in this advertisement?

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

*How uncooperative is the woman in this advertisement

1

Not at all

2 3 4 5 6 7

Very Much

69

Appendix D

Affective/Cognitive Questions

Affective Associations Measures Kiviniemi, 2014

AFFECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS WITH EXERCISE

When you think about exercising, how do you feel?

Not at all A little Somewhat Quite a bit Extremely

Do you feel happy? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel delighted? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel disgusted? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel angry? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel anxious? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel satisfied? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel relaxed? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel annoyed? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel sad? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel joyful?

Do you feel embarrassed? 1 2 3 4 5

Do you feel shameful? 1 2 3 4 5

Attitudes Measure Kiviniemi et al., 2007

Engaging in Physical Activity is:

1

Unpleasant

2 3 4 5 6 7

Pleasant

1

Undesirable

2 3 4 5 6 7

Desirable

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1

Worthless

2 3 4 5 6 7

Valuable

1

Harmful

2 3 4 5 6 7

Beneficial

1

Foolish

2 3 4 5 6 7

Wise Please indicate the number of days per week for the next 6 months that you plan on being physically active

for more than 20 minutes: On average, I plan on being physically active for _____ days a week for the next

6 months.

0 days 1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days 5 days 6 days 7 days

How many days a week do you plan to do 20 minutes or more of vigorous-intensity physical activity that make you sweat or puff and pant? (e.g., heavy lifting, digging, jogging, aerobics or fast bicycling)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

How many days a week do you plan to do 30 minutes or more walking? (e.g., walking from place to place

for exercise, leisure or recreation)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

How many times a week do you plan to do 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity that

increases your heart rate or make you breathe harder than normal? (e.g., carrying light loads, bicycling at a regular pace or doubles tennis)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

How important is it for you to be physically fit?

Not at all Important

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Extremely Important

How much do you enjoy exercising?

Not at all

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very much

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To what extent do you see yourself as being capable of participating in regular physical activity?

Incapable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Capable

How confident are you that you will be able to participate in regular physical activity?

Not very Confident

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very Confident

I believe I have the ability to participant in regular physical activity?

Definitely do not

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Definitely do

How often do you intend to take part in regular physical activity?

Never 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Frequently

I want to exercise regularly

Definitely do not

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Definitely do

People close to me think I should participate in regular physical activity

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4

Neither agree nor disagree

5 6 7

Agree Strongly

72

People who are important to me would…

1

Disapprove of my

participating in regular

activity

2 3 4

5 6 7

Approve of my

participating in regular

activity

People close to me think I…

1

Should not participate in

regular activity

2 3 4

5 6 7

Should participate in regular

activity

Social Norms Measure Kiviniemi et al., 2007

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Strongly

Disagree

Strongly

Agree

Below are several statements about how other people in your life feel about physical

activity. For each one, please think about how strongly you agree or disagree with each

statement and use the scale above to answer each question.

___ My family thinks physical activity is good.

___ My friends think physical activity is good.

___ People of my culture think physical activity is good.

73

Benefits

3) There are many reasons people have for engaging in physical activity. We’d like to

know how much each of the following things influences your engaging in physical

activity. Please answer by writing the number corresponding to your answer on the line

next to each reason.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Doesn’t

influence my

physical

activity

Is an important

reason why I

engage in

physical

activity

___ Helps me stay in shape ___ Reduce stress and relax

___ Makes me feel better in general ___ Helps me cope with life’s pressures

___ Maintain proper body weight ___ Enhance my self-image and confidence

74

Appendix E

Body Image States Scale

(Cash, et al, 2002)

BISS

For each of the items below, check the box beside the one statement that best describes

how you feel RIGHT NOW AT THIS VERY MOMENT. Read the items carefully to

be sure the statement you choose accurately and honestly describes how you feel right

now.

1. Right now I feel...

Extremely dissatisfied with my physical appearance

Mostly dissatisfied with my physical appearance

Moderately dissatisfied with my physical appearance

Slightly dissatisfied with my physical appearance

Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied with my physical appearance

Slightly satisfied with my physical appearance

Moderately satisfied with my physical appearance

Mostly satisfied with my physical appearance

Extremely satisfied with my physical appearance


Extremely satisfied with my body size and shape

Mostly satisfied with my body size and shape

Moderately satisfied with my body size and shape

Slightly satisfied with my body size and shape

Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied with my body size and shape

Slightly dissatisfied with my body size and shape

Moderately dissatisfied with my body size and shape

Mostly dissatisfied with my body size and shape

Extremely dissatisfied with my body size and shape


Extremely satisfied with my weight

Mostly dissatisfied with my weight

Moderately dissatisfied with my weight

Slightly dissatisfied with my weight

Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied with my weight

Slightly satisfied with my weight

Moderately satisfied with my weight

Mostly satisfied with my weight

Extremely satisfied with my weight

75


Extremely physically attractive

Very physically attractive

Moderately physically attractive

Slightly physically attractive

Neither attractive nor unattractive

Slightly physically unattractive

Moderately physically unattractive

Very physically unattractive

Extremely physically unattractive


A great deal worse about my looks than I usually feel

Much worse about my looks than I usually feel

Somewhat worse about my looks than I usually feel

Just slightly worse about my looks than I usually feel

About the same about my looks as usual

Just slightly better about my looks than I usually feel

Somewhat better about my looks than I usually feel

Much better about my looks than I usually feel

A great deal better about my looks than I usually feel

6. Right now I feel that I look...

A great deal better than the average person looks

Much better than the average person looks

Somewhat better than the average person looks

Just slightly better than the average person looks

About the same as the average person looks

Just slightly worse than the average person looks

Somewhat worse than the average person looks

Much worse than the average person looks

A great deal worse than the average person looks

76

Appendix F

Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale

(Liss, Erchull, Ramsey, 2011)

ESS

1. It is important to me that (wo)men are attracted to me

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

2. I feel proud when (wo)men compliment the way I look.

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

3. I want (wo)men to look at me.

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

4. I love to feel sexy.

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

5. I like showing off my body

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

77

6. I feel complimented when (wo)men whistle at me.

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

7. When I wear revealing clothing, I feel sexy and in control.

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

8. I feel empowered when I look beautiful.

1

Disagree Strongly

2 3 4 5 6

Agree Strongly

78

Appendix G

Demographics

Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability:

What is your age? ____ years

What is your:

Height Weight Age

What is your race? You may check more than one.

American Indian/Alaskan Native Hispanic

Asian/Pacific Islander White/Caucasian

Black/African American Other

Gender MALE FEMALE

Do you smoke? YES NO

Do you drink caffeine (coffee, cola, Mt. Dew, energy drinks)? YES NO

How many days a week do you usually do 20 minutes or more of vigorous-intensity physical activity that

make you sweat or puff and pant? (e.g., heavy lifting, digging, jogging, aerobics or fast bicycling)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

How many days a week do you usually do 30 minutes or more walking? (e.g., walking from place to place

for exercise, leisure or recreation)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

How many times a week do you usually do 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity that

increases your heart rate or make you breathe harder than normal? (e.g., carrying light loads, bicycling at a

regular pace or doubles tennis)?

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Have you sustained an injury or do you have a medical issue that prevents you from exercising regularly?

YES NO if yes please explain

Do you belong to an organized sports team?

Yes No

Do you own a gym membership or have access to a gym?

Yes No

79

In the Psychology Department, we are considering offering a Psychology of Health, Wellness, and Exercise

Seminar next semester. If this class were offered, would you be interested in enrolling for it?

Yes No

If yes, can you provide your email address so we can contact you with more information about the class?

______________________

80

Appendix H

Attention Check Items

While other questions do not have a right or wrong answer, this question has a distinctly

correct answer:

How many words are in this sentence?

How many options are in this question?

What company was being advertised in the advertisements you viewed?

What gender were the people in the advertisements you viewed?

What was the purpose of this study? (fill in the blank)

81

Appendix I

Potential Moderator Scales

Additional scales will be included for exploratory moderator analyses that were

not discussed in the main thesis.

Motivation for Exercise. Previous research has found that women who had body-shape

motives for exercise were less likely to engage in physical activity that those who

engaged in exercise for health reasons (Segar, Spruijt-Metz, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006),

thus motivations for exercise will be included as an exploratory moderator. To assess

motivations for exercise, participants will complete the Motives for Physical Activities

Measure – Revised (MPAM-R; Ryan, Frederick, Lepes, Rubio, & Sheldon, 1997). This

measure breaks down reasoning for exercise into five motives including fitness,

appearance, competence/challenge, social, and enjoyment. Additionally, each subscale

has been shown to have good internal consistency (all alphas > 0.87).

Motives for Physical Activities Measure – Revised (MPAM-R)

The following is a list of reasons why people engage in physical activities, sports

and exercise. Keeping in mind your primary physical activity/sport, respond to

each question (using the scale given), on the basis of how true that response is for

you.

1 Not at all

true for me

2 3 4 5 6 7 Very true

for me

___ 1. Because I want to be physically fit.

___ 2. Because it’s fun.

82

___ 3. Because I like engaging in activities which physically challenge me.

___ 4. Because I want to obtain new skills.

___ 5. Because I want to look or maintain weight so I look better.

___ 6. Because I want to be with my friends.

___ 7. Because I like to do this activity.

___ 8. Because I want to improve existing skills.

___ 9. Because I like the challenge.

___ 10. Because I want to define my muscles so I look better.

___ 11. Because it makes me happy.

___ 12. Because I want to keep up my current skill level.

___ 13. Because I want to have more energy.

___ 14. Because I like activities which are physically challenging.

___ 15. Because I like to be with others who are interested in this activity.

___ 16. Because I want to improve my cardiovascular fitness.

___ 17. Because I want to improve my appearance.

___ 18. Because I think it’s interesting.

___ 19. Because I want to maintain my physical strength to live a healthy life.

___ 20. Because I want to be attractive to others.

___ 21. Because I want to meet new people.

___ 22. Because I enjoy this activity.

___ 23. Because I want to maintain my physical health and well-being.

___ 24. Because I want to improve my body shape.

___ 25. Because I want to get better at my activity.

___ 26. Because I find this activity stimulating.

83

___ 27. Because I will feel physically unattractive if I don’t.

___ 28. Because my friends want me to.

___ 29. Because I like the excitement of participation.

___ 30. Because I enjoy spending time with others doing this activity.

Scoring Information

Interest/Enjoyment: 2, 7, 11, 18, 22, 26, 29

Competence: 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 14, 25

Appearance: 5, 10, 17, 20, 24, 27

Fitness: 1, 13, 16, 19, 23

Social: 6, 15, 21, 28, 30

84

Appendix J

Informed Consent

IRB # _____

ICF Version Date: _______

Adult Informed Consent Form Page 1 of 2

University of Toledo IRB Approved

Approval Date:

Expiration Date:

ADULT RESEARCH - INFORMED CONSENT INFORMATION Memory for Advertisements

Principal Investigator: Andrew L. Geers, Ph. D. phone: 419-530-8530

Ashley B. Murray

Purpose: You are invited to participate in the research project entitled Memory for Advertisements, which is

being conducted at the University of Toledo under the direction of Dr. Geers and Ashley Murray. The purpose

of this study is to examine how individuals view and evaluate advertisements obtained from mainstream media.

Description of Procedures: This research will take place on campus at University of Toledo. The survey and

evaluations will take approximately 30 minutes. You will be asked to fill out demographic information, evaluate

a series of media advertisements, and fill out some final questionnaires related to the advertisements. At the end of the survey, you will be thanked, debriefed, and dismissed. You will then receive .5 research credits for

participating in the study. You understand that you will be asked to view a series of advertisements similar to

those seen in mainstream magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, and Vogue. You also understand that these advertisements may be sexualized.

Potential Risks: There are minimal risks to participation in this study, including loss of confidentiality. You will be assigned a unique identification number, and we will not link your survey to identifying information. You

could feel mildly anxious by answering questions on-line, additionally, participants may become bored

answering questions about media advertisements. If so, you may stop at any time.

Potential Benefits: Participants will receive .5 research credits for participating in the study, and at the end

you may be given the opportunity to learn more about the subject of this research. Others may benefit by

learning about the results of this research.

Confidentiality: The researchers will make every effort to prevent anyone who is not on the research team

from knowing that you provided this information, or what that information is. Any identifying information will be removed from the survey and you will be assigned a unique identification number. Additionally, consent forms

will be kept separate from the data in a locked cabinet. Although we will make every effort to protect your

confidentiality, there is a low risk that this might be breached.

Voluntary Participation: Your refusal to participate in this study will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to

which you are otherwise entitled and will not affect your relationship with The University of Toledo. In addition,

you may discontinue participation at any time without any penalty.

Department of Psychology MS 948, 2801 W Bancroft Street

Toledo, Ohio 43606 Phone # 419.530.2717

Fax # 419.530.8479

85

IRB # _____

ICF Version Date: _______

Adult Informed Consent Form Page 2 of 2

University of Toledo IRB Approved

Approval Date:

Expiration Date:

Contact Information: Before you decide to accept this invitation to take part in this study, you may ask any

questions that you might have. If you have any questions at any time before, during or after your participation you should contact a member of the research team Dr. Geers – phone: 419-530-8530 If you have questions

beyond those answered by the research team or your rights as a research subject or research-related injuries,

please feel free to contact the IRB Chair at (419) 530-2844.

Before you sign this form, please ask any questions on any aspect of this study that is unclear to you. You may take as much time as necessary to think it over.

SIGNATURE SECTION – Please read carefully

You are making a decision whether or not to participate in this research study. Your signature indicates that you are over 18 years old, that you have read the information provided above, that you have had all your

questions answered, and that you have decided to take part in this research.

The date you sign this document to enroll in this study, that is, today's date must fall between the dates

indicated at the bottom of the page.

Name of Subject (please print) Signature Date

Name of Person Obtaining Consent Signature Date

This Adult Research Informed Consent document has been reviewed and approved by the University of

Toledo Social, Behavioral and Educational IRB for the period of time specified in the box below.

Approved Number of Subjects:

86

Appendix K

Debrief Form

Thank you for participating in the current research study on evaluations of

advertisements. The progress of psychological research is only possible with the help of

individuals, like you, who give us important insight into the human mind. In addition, we

hope that your participation has provided you with an educational experience on how

psychological research is conducted. Before you have completed the study, we need you

to ask a few more questions…

First, were all the directions clear and easy to understand?

Yes No

If no, please explain:

Did a friend or someone you know tell you anything specific about the study?

Yes No

If yes, please explain

Was there anything that you think might have altered your responses in some way?

Yes No

If yes, please explain

In the current study, we are examining the perception of media advertisements. We wish

to determine what types of messages change people’s behaviors. In this line of research

we are examining many variables and some of these variables may help change future

behaviors whereas some other variables may not be helpful. So, you may not have been

provided a proven way to change behavior.

This research has many real world implications. The findings may prove useful in a

variety of situations such as selling products, helping people engage in prosocial

behaviors, and disseminating information.

We thank you very much for your participation. Your assistance today will help us

answer some important questions about human behavior. It is really important, however,

that you don’t tell anyone about the details of this study. People may respond differently

87

if they know the purpose of the study. Because there are a large number of participants in

this study, it will take a while to examine people’s responses. It is essential that everyone

who comes to do this study is unaware of the nature of it.

Please acknowledge that you have read the preceding information about the study by

clicking the appropriate box

I have read the information I have not read the information

Can we count on you not to tell anyone about the details of this study?

Yes No

If you have additional questions, please contact the Principle Investigator, Dr. Andrew

Geers at 419.530.8530

Additionally, we understand that some of these images may have been emotionally

charged. If at any time you would like to discuss these with a professional, University of

Toledo has several counselors in the counseling office whom you may visit, at no charge

(Rocket Hall 1810). They may be reached at 419-530-7263.

Thank you very much for your participation today. We hope this was an educational

experience for you.

Additionally, each participant will be given a slip of paper with the following information

to take with them:

In the current study, we are examining the perception of media advertisements. We wish

to determine what types of messages change people’s behaviors. In this line of research

we are examining many variables and some of these variables may help change future

behaviors whereas some other variables may not be helpful. So, you may not have been

provided a proven way to change behavior.

We understand that these topics and images may be emotionally charged. If at any time

you would like to discuss these with a professional, University of Toledo has several

counselors in the counseling office whom you may visit, at no charge (RH 1810). They

may be reached at 419-530-2426.

88

Appendix L

Evaluation of Advertisements

Script for Master’s Thesis

________________________________________________________________________

Greet participants outside of the experiment room.

Hello, are you here for “Evaluation of Advertisements?” And your name is ________?

My name is _________. I will be conducting the study. Thank you for helping us today.

Please follow me into the lab so we can get started.

Remind participants to: turn off any cell phones or electronic devices and put away any

food or beverages. Ask participants to take a seat at their assigned computers.

I am going to read to you the instructions for the experiment today. I understand that this

makes them sound stiff, but it makes sure that everyone hears the same thing and that I

don’t forget to tell you anything.

Before we begin, I need you to complete an informed consent. It is a requirement of the

University that we have participants read and sign a consent form before they take part in

a study. Read it over carefully and when you are finished, please sign it on the second

page. Your signature indicates that you understand that there are no foreseeable risks to

you by participating. You also understand that you will be asked to view a series images.

You understand that any images you see may contain sexual imagery. You will be asked

to fill out some surveys asking you questions about the images and then later complete a

memory portion about the images you saw. When you have signed the consent form,

please turn it face down on your desk.

Hand out consent forms. Collect them as they turn them over.

Today, you will be completing this experiment on the computer in front of you. First, you

will view a series of advertisements and will be asked questions about each of these

advertisements. There are no right or wrong answers to these – they are simply measuring

what you think about the images. After this, you will be given the chance to view the

advertisements again, this time more quickly, to better imitate the repeated and quick

nature of advertisements. The purpose of this experiment today is to assess your memory

for advertisements and what you think about advertisements. In order to assess this, we

need to wait a few minutes for the images to be stored in your long-term memory. During

this time, we have a few questionnaires for a separate study for you to complete.

When you have completed the experiment, please raise your hand so we can give you a

sheet with more information about the study. After that, you are free to go. We thank you

for your participation.

You may now click continue to begin the experiment. If you have any questions, please

raise your hand so I can try to assist you.

Give students debrief sheet on their way out, mark any issues on run sheet.

89

Appendix M

Supplemental Pilot Study Analyses

Table 2.2

MANOVA Comparison of Sexualized Advertisements to Affective Advertisements in the

pilot study. Below are the ANOVA results from the comparison of the sexualized

advertisements to the affective advertisements for each question from the pilot study.

MANOVA Results Question df F p ηp

2 M(SD) Affective Ads



(1,32) 6.529 <.05 .169 4.69(1.11) 3.37(1.69)


(1,32) 20.347 <.01 .389 5.26(1.29) 2.93(1.59)


(1,32) 21.655 <.01 .404 5.35(1.19) 3.00(1.60)


(1,32) 4.387 <.05 .121 3.19(1.35) 4.43(1.91)

How do you feel about exercising after

viewing this advertisement?

(1,32) 8.435 <.01 .209 4.61(1.15) 3.19(1.55)



(1,32) 5.935 <.05 .156 4.78(1.17) 3.45(1.80)

90

Table 2.3

MANOVA Comparison of Sexualized Advertisements to Neutral Advertisements in the

pilot study. Below are the MANOVA results from the comparison of the sexualized

advertisements to the neutral advertisements for each question from the pilot study.


2 M(SD) Neutral Ads



(1,35) 11.742 <.01 .251 5.00(1.07) 3.37(1.69)


(1,35) 4.649 <.05 .117 4.02(1.44) 2.93(1.59)


(1,35) 2.143 =.15 .058 3.73(1.38) 3.00(1.60)


(1,35) 7.588 <.01 .178 2.77(1.72) 4.43(1.91)



(1,35) <1 =.47 .015 3.54(1.34) 3.19(1.55)



(1,35) <1 =.45 .017 3.86(1.44) 3.44(1.79)

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Table 2.4

MANOVA Comparison of Sexualized Advertisements to Inspirational Advertisements in

the pilot study. Below are the MANOVA results from the comparison of the sexualized

advertisements to the inspirational advertisements for each question from the pilot study.


2 M(SD) Inspirational

Ads



(1,36) 9.039 <.01 .201 4.79(1.21) 3.37(1.69)


(1,36) 32.806 <.01 .477 5.43(0.98) 2.93(1.59)


(1,36) 26.007 <.01 .419 5.26(1.03) 3.00(1.60)


(1,36) 1.372 =.249 .037 3.81(1.30) 4.43(1.91)



(1,36) 12.538 <.01 .258 4.87(1.35) 3.19(1.55)



(1,36) 10.715 <.01 .229 5.14(1.33) 3.44(1.79)

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